Shorts Stories

I've been seeing floral printed denim everywhere lately, and while I wouldn't wear it myself - I'm too old for that, right? - I thought I might make the girls some new shorts for summer.  This sort of thing was my inspiration. 

Floral shorts $32.99 from Pumpkin Patch

I found some floral denim at Spotlight.  It was about $6 for 1/2 a metre but that was all I needed to make these shorts - plus I still have some left over.  

I didn't have a pattern so I used a pair of shorts from last year that still fit around the waist but are a bit short in the leg.  I just traced around them to make a pattern, and then took some measurements from Katherine to make sure I was on the right track. 

I decided to make a flat front with an elastic casing in the back.  I put some pockets on the front as well, but not on the back.  The ones on the back are just for decoration anyway, right?  I deliberated over putting a yoke in the back, but in the end I left it out and just ran the seam all the way up to the waistband.  Katherine has no bottom anyway, so it sits fine the way it is.

I put a zip in the front, although I shouldn't have bothered.  She doesn't have hips, so she can get them on and off without undoing the button anyway, because of the elastic.  It was just more busy work that I didn't really need.  And there was plenty of busy work with these!   So much unpicking!  I unpicked until my hands cramped up.  I finished them late at night and then the next morning when Katherine tried them on - I already knew they were going to be far too big - they were massive on her.  So I unpicked the waistband stitching.  I unpicked the elastic stitched in at the sides to shorten that.  I unpicked the topstitching down the sides of the legs, and then I had to bring in the sides a good inch or so on each side, and stitch the whole thing back together.  

Oh noes, my child is way cooler than I am!  

I'm still not happy with the fit.  They look ok, but not fantastic.  

The shirt is McCalls M6156, which was another late night project.  Hubby has been working nights, so there's been plenty of late night sewing going on!  I have already made this once before, but this time I really wanted to do it with pintucks.  The pintucks didn't show up very well on the gingham so I ended up getting a little bit creative and making a wave pattern with them by running a stitch across them in opposite directions. I love the way this turned out!

Katherine seems to like the outfit too.  I can always tell by the way she poses for photos.  She's so much more enthusiastic about being photographed when she is wearing something she likes! 

I played around with the shorts pattern a bit and decided to make another pair.  This pair I made out of  some cherry print fabric - it is a stretch sateen that I bought to make one of my Nanna's vintage dresses with (I've made the dress by the way, and worn it!  I will get around to blogging it once I find someone to take a decent photo of me in it!).  I had some scraps left over - just enough to make a pair of shorts.  The fit on these is so much better.  There is still room to grow a bit in them though, which is good.

I left the zip off this pair and did a mock fly instead.  So much easier!  I even fooled Katherine - I caught her trying to undo the button (which is firmly stitched on).  Haha, gotcha!

I took them in at the top but left them sort of flared around the leg.  Plus I had a bit more length to work with, so I just did a rolled cuff on these ones.  The denim ones had a separate cuff attached because I was worried about the length.  

They sit nicer at the back too, I think, because there isn't so much bulk cinched in at the top.  So happy with these - I might make a few more pairs yet!  

Puppet show: The encore performance

In my quest to put together a few little outfits for Katherine's summer wardrobe, I pulled out the Oliver + S Puppet show shorts pattern again. This pair I made out of some chambray scraps I had leftover from this dress I made earlier in the year. I paired them with a top from a Japanese pattern book I bought a while ago (from this Etsy seller, if anyone is interested). It was my first attempt at a project from this book, and went better than I expected, really, considering I can't read a word of Japanese!

The fabric I used for the top is from the Out to Sea range and originally I had it in mind for a little collared shirt from the same pattern book, but I just didn't have enough (even if I was to cut it slightly off-grain... which I wouldn't have... but well, I did check!  I really wanted to make that shirt!)

Instead I settled for this one with a pretty yoke and flutter sleeves.  It is actually a dress but I shortened it to turn it into a tunic-length top.  The original pattern also seemed very full in the bodice so I took an inch or two of the fullness out, and there is still plenty of room for my skinny minnie.  She's looking particularly gaunt here as she's just got over a bout of gastro.  I swear, I really do feed my children!

I wanted to add piping under the yoke but had run out of piping cord, so I stitched a piece of ribbon into the seam there instead, and added a little matching ribbon bow to pretty it up a bit too.

I put a button closure on the back as I was worried about room for her head.  The original pattern was just a pop-over style, which I couldn't see working.  Maybe it was supposed to be made out of knit - if only I could read Japanese!  I had a quick look at the step-by-step diagrams and then went ahead and assembled it in a very similar fashion to the Oliver + S Icecream dress.  It's not how it was done in the book, but to me it made the most sense to do it that way.

I used leftovers for the pocket trim and leg binding on the shorts, as I didn't have enough chambray to go around.  This is one thrifty pair of shorts!  I won't tell you how I pieced the waistband together... notice there are no shots of it.  Hmm...

She's almost set for summer.

Not-so-skinny Cargos

I keep forgetting how tiny my "big" girl is.  I finally got around to making her a pair of skinny cargo pants (from Ottobre 1/2012) only to find they are too big.  I measured her height but I didn't worry too much about the waist as for some reason I thought they were elasticated at the back... nope!  Not to worry, I added some anyway!  The length was spot-on, but they are still a bit baggy in the legs.

Oh well, she will grow into them (eventually).

You can see they are a bit baggy around the bottom where I have cinched them in with elastic.

The side pockets were a bit fiddly to attach, but I'm glad I persevered with them.  They are pretty cute.

She didn't seem to mind that they were a bit big, and was happy to keep wearing them to play in even after I stopped taking photos.

Like most of her clothes, she will probably get a couple of years wear out of them.  I wonder why she stays so tiny?  Must be because of all the energy she burns off.

All in a day's work

I've had the pieces for these cut out for a while now, but finally started sewing them together yesterday.  I finished them this afternoon and have to say I'm pretty happy with them.  There are a few imperfections and if I was making them again (I'm tossing up whether to make another pair in chocolate corduroy) I'd make a couple of small changes but overall I think they're great.

The pattern was design 13 - Plum cargo pants - from from the Spring issue of Ottobre Design (1/2011).  I made a couple of changes from the original pattern - like leaving off the ties on the side pockets as I thought Katherine might struggle getting them done up/undone, and I only double topstitched the seams, rather than triple (to me the photos of the originals looked a bit "messy" with so much stitching.

They are a bit too big in the waist - should have gone with my gut instinct and made that elastic shorter even though it looked too small! - but I am thinking she'll grow into them.  In the meantime they can just be worn with a belt.

This is also the first time I've done a fly front so I was super proud of myself.

She wasn't in the mood for a fashion parade today so no photos of her wearing them unfortunately!  Maybe next time!